Four months ago, most of us dancers auditioned for a nonprofit West African dance troupe. This rendition of the group’s debut occurred during Creative Action’s first Creative Sunday since the pandemic.
We’d rehearsed for several months.
This was our first dress rehearsal. The choreographer fussed over our costumes like a mom getting her daughters ready for prom. We wore several layers over our sports bras and dance pants/shorts: a gele (head wrap), shirt, lapa (wraparound skirt), belted “grass” skirt, cowrie shell belt and arm bands, cloth anklets, necklace and earrings.
So of course we had to test everything.
One unwritten rule: never dance in a performance wearing something you haven’t practiced in. I made a point of sharing that little pearl of wisdom with everyone. Then on the day of the performance, I did the very thing I’d warned everyone about. Instead of using one of the masks that I’d practiced with many times before,
I switched out the white mask for a black one.
That bad boy flew off dramatically into the wind the moment I started my interpretative dance for “Why Anansi Has Eight Skinny Legs.”
Our opening dance was called Sinte:
Here’s the interpretative dance to an African tale, “Why Anansi Has Eight Thin Legs,” where I had my wardrobe malfunction:
Here’s a video summary of our performance on that hot, humid day!